World News Quick Take

Agencies

BRAZIL

Building collapse kills 8

At least eight people were killed and 25 injured on Tuesday when a commercial building under construction collapsed in Sao Paulo, officials said. Rescuers said they did not know how many people might be trapped in the rubble. Search efforts continued through the night. News reporters said 35 people were working on the building when it collapsed. People passing by on the street might also have been caught up in the falling debris, these reports said. Such accidents involving buildings under construction or old and poorly maintained edifices occur frequently in Sao Paulo, the country’s economic capital and most populous city.

UNITED STATES

Mosques ‘terrorism bodies’

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations. The designation has allowed police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the NYPD has opened at least a dozen “terrorism enterprise investigations” into mosques. Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services is a potential subject of the investigation and fair game for surveillance. The NYPD declined to comment.

UNITED STATES

Huge fire still burning

The wildfire threatening Yosemite National Park is still burning its way into the tourist attraction despite dogged efforts by thousands of firefighters using planes and bulldozers. Ash is gathering on the surface of a reservoir serving San Francisco, but officials said water quality has not been affected. The so-called Rim Fire — California’s seventh biggest ever — now covers about 731km2, an area bigger than Chicago. The fire, which broke out on Aug. 17, was still only 20 percent contained on Tuesday, compared with 15 percent on Monday.

KENYA

Two men agree on bride

Two men in Kenya have agreed to marry the same woman, taking turns to stay with her and helping raise her children. Joyce Wambui had been torn between two lovers for more than four years and was unable to choose between them. So she joined in a contract stipulating that Sylvester Mwendwa, 26, and Elijah Kimani would “share” her. Mwendwa claimed Wambui’s parents had given her their blessing, adding: “She is like the central referee. She can say whether she wants me or my colleague.” Mwendwa’s willingness to publicize the contract has caused a rift with Kimani and Wambui. On Tuesday, the Daily Nation reported that Mwendwa, a butcher, said his boss fired him after he heard the story, and he is reported to have gone into hiding.

UNITED KINGDOM

‘Twerking’ makes dictionary

Twerking, the rump-busting up-and-down dance move, has officially gone mainstream. The Oxford Dictionaries said the rapid-fire gyrations employed by US pop starlet Miley Cyrus would be added to its publications under the entry: “Twerk, verb.” Oxford Dictionaries’ Katherine Connor Martin said “twerking” may be an alteration of “work,” because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to “work it.” “Twerk” will be added to the dictionary as part of its quarterly update, which includes words such as “selfie,” the word used to describe pouty smartphone self-portraits